The depressed economy threatens the financial health of Ohio hospitals, with many projecting losses and cuts in staff, programs and construction projects, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.
A statewide survey found that 35 percent of hospitals plan to lay off additional employees within six months, with many of the projected layoffs – 41 percent – expected in hospitals that serve rural Ohio.
“Much of rural Ohio is already underserved,’’ said Bruce White, CEO of Knox Community Hospital. “Patients who live in rural areas have limited choices of clinics, providers and hospitals. These survey results – and the (state) budget plan – suggest they could have even fewer.’’
As Ohio hospitals struggle to remain financially stable, the state’s General Assembly is debating a two-year spending plan that would raise hospital costs and lead to more layoffs, service cuts and construction delays.
White noted that rural hospitals are often the leading employers in their region; he said the projected layoffs would ripple through entire communities.
The OHA survey found that 42 percent of hospitals have already enacted hiring or salary freezes, and in the past six months 29 percent have cancelled or delayed construction projects or capital improvements, including emergency department modernizations, operating room expansions and cardiac care renovation.
“The number one mission of our hospitals is to care for people – regardless of their ability to pay,’’ said Michael R. Stephens, president of Sycamore Medical Center and chairman of the OHA Board of Trustees. “That mission is in jeopardy.’’
Hospitals responding to the survey indicated they will avoid layoffs in clinical areas if possible, but the cuts could spill into vital services such as nursing, radiology, physical therapy, pharmacy, skilled nursing and outreach programs, including dental clinics and diabetes education.
The survey results come as Ohio hospitals are wrestling with a 41 percent increase in charity care and a 50 percent increase in bad debt during the last eight months of 2008. Since 2002, total uncompensated care losses have increased from $700 million to $1.3 billion.
“As a result of plant closings and job losses in our region, Children’s Medical Center of Dayton has experienced a 7 percent decline in commercially insured patients, with a corresponding increase in the number of Medicaid patients, where reimbursement does not cover the full cost of care,” said David Miller, chief financial officer of Children’s Medical Center of Dayton.
“We are working to fill an $8 to $10 million budget shortfall even though our patient volumes are still high,” Miller added. “This shortfall, compounded by the proposed additional assessment, during these hard economic times would mean our hospital would be forced to delay projects or consider cutting services.”
An increased number of emergency department patients, coupled with financial roadblocks to vital emergency department expansions and modernizations, means longer waits and higher costs for all patients.
Of OHA’s 174 short-term, acute care member hospitals, 110 responded to the survey.